Hey everyone,
So, I’m coming from a Synology NAS 918+ and I’m looking to upgrade to an absolute unit! Like most first NAS builders I’m most likely overcompensating and going way overboard, but I have the money to spend so I should be good, but would like good value for my investment, and I can make use of many second hand options, here in the Netherlands.
I will primarily use my build for Plex Media Server, file storage and many other docker containers. Due to having a 500/50 mbit connection I expect to not be needing more than 10 trans codes at a time. I might experiment with VM’s or gaming, but that is a low priority. My reason for Unraid is that I can start with several drives and expand as I go.
I will be filling up one of two Cooler Master CM Stacker STC-T01 (Product Sheet PDF) towers, each with 4x 5.25 to 5x 3.5 HDD cages allowing for 20x 3.5 8TB WD Red hardrives.
Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
My “draft” build:
Note: I have inserted “Tweakers” links, Tweakers is the Dutch equivalent of PC Part Picker
CPU
Choice: [Dual CPU] Intel Xeon E5-2680 v3 @ 12C/24T (2.5GHz, 3.3GHz) - Passmark: 24190 / STR: 1753 => €300
Why:
[Update] I can get them for fairly cheap, second hand, and they will give me plenty of raw power.
MOBO
Choice: Supermicro X10DAi (Bulk pack) => €349
Why:
A dual socket 2011 is around the same price as dual socket 2011-3 here and I like it to be future proof such that I can re-use later. The ddr4 ram requirement isn’t that much more expensive. And it comes with a good initial 10 SATA ports so I can withhold on the SAS card for now.
RAM
Choice: Samsung M386A8K40BM2-CTD 64GB DDR4 LRDIMM 2.666Mhz (Tweakers) (kit of 8 sticks => € 307,50 (€ 38,44 each)
Why:
[Update] As required, I need Registered ECC memory and this seems like a good choice.
PSU
Choice: Corsair HX850i => € 187,90
Why:
Seems like a good fit, I like the extra functionality although I’m not sure if I can use it in Unraid and if the wattage will be enough for the eventual 20 disks + 4 SSD’s
SDD
Choice: Samsung 970 Pro 512GB => € 144,90
Why:
I like the very high IOPS and will use this as storage for the docker configs and Plex meta files.
Storage
Choice: WD Red (256MB cache), 8TB => € 240,90
Why:
[Update] Bigger is better, also from a price point so I will stick with the WD Red series and look for good deals focusing on the higher capacity drives.
Total:
€ 1,130.70 ($1125,56)
- What is your budget?
- To get up and running, € 1500
- How many drives do you want your server to be able to support and how much capacity do you need?
- Eventually, 20 HDD, each 8TB so 160TB and 5 SSD’s
- Is expandability important to you? If so, what’s your long term goal?
- Very important, eventually when I move I will go for a big server rack and hopefully have fiber optics internet but would like to reuse most parts.
- Are you interested in running any unRAID Add Ons (see here)? If so, which ones? Be specific.
- Very few, maybe, I would like to use docker containers as much as possible.
- What do you plan to run for hard drives?
- Plex media storage and personal file storage for family such as pictures/videos.
- Do you have any spare parts laying around that you would like to apply towards your build? This includes drives.
- Currently have 3x WD Red 8TB in my Synology but will buy 3 more just to transfer everything safely.
- If you already have parts in mind, please oh pretty please post links to them so that we don’t have to look them up.
- Yes I did this!
My questions (so far):
- Would it be possible to use a 10x sata pci card or is it better to use a SAS card?
- Might spell trouble, go with a cheap SAS Card.
- I have a spare Ryzen 7 1700, might that be a better option than dual Intel?
Thank you!